In Japanese lore, a tanuki is a mythical, mischievous, shape-shifting creature. Tanuki Raw delights in the raw pleasures of food and drink. A bar and restaurant serving modern, playful Japanese-meets-food-truck style cuisine.

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We all got a foie gras truffle yakiniku bowl each and added one of their rolls, the confit de canard roll to share … My favourite part of the bowl was actually the foie gras- it was buttery, creamy and delicious; everything foie gras should be. the US black angus short rib pieces were a shocking letdown, though. it was basically bland and didn’t taste like much at all. i suppose the truffle soy sauce did help to add some flavour, but let’s face it- beef doesn’t need much seasoning to be yummy. the rice was just average, though the onsen egg did help … The confit de canard roll didn’t do much better. I get that it’s a fusion dish, but there are good fusion dishes, and there are those that fall into the other end of the spectrum, and this, unfortunately, was the latter … Service was pretty much nonexistent as well- I don’t quite get why they charge for service, to be honest. Read full review. –

We had one of the better ones in Singapore from Tanuki Raw! Their creative Donburi certainly caught our eye! Salted Duck Egg Char Siew: Even though we were skeptical at first, the sauce did itself justice after we tasted it to the point we chomped down every single bit of the rice bowl! Everything about the rice bowl was on point, smooth runny eggs to enhance the flavour, thick cut tender pork belly with mushrooms underneath … the Uni Donut: Visually, it could be in a list of top 10 Insta-worthy egg dish kinda feeling but it was lacking more in taste. I felt that the egg somehow masked the flavours of the Uni and the donut had no filling unlike typical Pull-apart style Donuts. You know the feeling you get when having a takoyaki with no filling? It was something like that… Go visit for their donburi! Read full review. +

Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku: we were presented a sous vide short rib that had been pan-finished or lightly blowtorched. Imagine sous vide satay without the smokey char from the fuelled charcoal flames and you will have the general idea. The dish lacked seasoning… After a liberal dose of salt, the taste was satisfactory but still, unmemorable … Uni Donut: Sadly the taste was a sore miss; once the egg and uni were gone all that was left was a dry donut labouring to find its purpose underneath … Wham fries: While it makes for a good photo, the only thing it had going for it was its slightly quirky and interesting name. Just as a pretty picture doesn’t always tell the whole story, you won’t know how disjointed the flavours and textures of this dish are until you pop some in your mouth. But once you scrape off all the residual crud, the sweet potato fries tastes pretty good… Read full review. –

I had the Truffle Yakiniku… It looks picture perfect, and great for Instagram. But I didn’t enjoy the meal. The onsen egg was yummy, and the pickled radish was tasty without being an assault on my tastebuds, but the beef pretty weird. If blindfolded, I certainly wouldn’t know what meat it was that I was eating. And the sauce was overwhelmingly salty … I went back to Tanuki Raw another day with 3 pals and we all had raw fish. Which was amazing. The Tanuki Kaisen Chirashi tasted as good as it looked. Read full review. +-

Admittedly, I liked what I saw on paper – a Fat Samurai disguised as a deep-dish pizza and Salted Duck Egg Char Siew Don, but in reality, my favourite dishes were the uncomplicated lets-not-beat-around-the-bush dishes … Case in point: the Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku Bowl was satisfaction seared and served in a bowl. And that was quite a generous piece of foie gras too. It was so good we ordered another bowl … Instagram This Maki: This roll would make sushi chefs cringe and it isn’t for the purist of heart. Fried yakiniku steak, bacon and tamago, smothered with malted cheese, mayo and onions. There was a lot going on and all I remember is, this tastes like something you would order and polish off with no recollection if you were drunk … I wouldn’t rule out Tanuki Raw but I would stick to the safer dishes in the future. Read full review. +-

The Wham Fries was an earnest attempt at selling familiar comfort food updated with a modern flair. Sweet potato fries topped with torched marshmallow, melted gruyere, mozzarella, sour cream and a Tanuki spice mix… This moreish dish may take a while for your palates to wrap around, but the queer mix grows on you after its slightly sweetish first impression. Call me weird, but if you avoid the unlit bits of marshmallows, the charred flavor combined with savory cheese and sweet fries are a tad addictive … Moving on to another curious creation from the kitchen, the Foie Gras Donut was met with mixed feelings. This is one for the strangelets, the somewhat non-agreeable combination of buckwheat donut, panseared foie gras, scallions, sauteed mushrooms, balsamic oknomiyaki sauce and sour cream with a final flourish of parmesan cheese; left me in shambles.. but I do appreciate the texture of the pull-apart donut underneath all that jargon. Read full review. +

Tanuki Raw at Kapok is one of my regular go-to place for a comforting lunch alone. And the main reason why it’s so is because of their awesome Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku Don. I am beyond satisfied with that generous chunk of glistening foie gras with tender juicy slices of US Black Angus short rib beef… I will never get sick of this bowl of savoury flavours on a bed of seasoned rice. Plus it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket… I loved the rice in the donburi which is tasty on its own. Add that egg, beef and foie gras in a mouthful, I am in heaven. My only gripe is that sauce on the foie gras is a little too sweet and tend to overpower the truffle flavours so I usually scrap off most of that sauce … I can never resist fresh raw oysters! The texture and taste on the palate brings me to the ocean, ever so slightly sweet. When you do the “slurp” in your mouth, it just slides down your throat. It gives me goosebumps thinking about how delicious these were. Read full review. +

For starters, We were highly recommended the WHAM! Fries… I enjoyed it. Even though the sweet taters got a little too soggy towards to the end. But I liked the refreshing sweetness brought on by the marshmallow pieces to the sweet taters, and the occasional cheesy surprise when you get one that’s smeared with cheese. Addictive … Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku: The rice was drenched with the black garlic brown butter, and they even had little bits of mushrooms within to go with the beef and rice… That foie gras was melt in your mouth kinda good. An indulgent, indulgent bowl, but worth every single calorie and cent. It’s the dish that made my night … I wish there will be more of such restaurants in Singapore where they go against the conventions and be brave enough to come up with incredulously wacky ideas to make the experience with food exciting again! Read full review. +

Salmon Kaisen Don: 4 textures of salmon, all in one bowl for salmon lovers. This did not disappoint; the different salmon sashimi are fresh and delicious in their own way … Salted Egg Char Siew Sliders: The thick pieces of succulent meat was indeed the highlight of this slider mini burger, and I really enjoyed chomping down on it! The meat was slightly on the tough side though … WHAM! fries: This is made up of umami gruyere melted over sweet potato fries topped with marshmallows, Tanuki spice mix, mozzarella and sour cream. I love how well all of these go together, and the overall result was not overly sweet! Read full review. +

We went for the truffled yakiniku don, featuring seared black angus short rib and truffled soy sauce. Unfortunately I could not really taste the truffle, and the beef was too raw, and therefore the fragrance and taste of the beef wasn’t optimum … Steak tartar was the only dish which I did not fancy. Don’t get me wrong, I love steak tartar, but just not this version. There was no flavor in the meat. The apple supposed to be poached in sake did not exude any fragrance of the rice wine. They used sliced deep fried mantou which was sweet. Though unusual did not really sit well with me … Overall the meal was good but not great. Read full review. +-

As for the menu, it is ambitious but a lot less scattershot than I first thought; ‘Japan looks West’, I would say, is the inspiration and thread holding it all together … The Truffle Yakiniku don is Tanuki Raw’s social media celebrity, and is also an example of how to use truffle flavour – subtly, with due consideration of how powerful it is. Here it is combined with similarly strong elements, in the soy seasoning and the fattiness of Angus beef itself. Unlike the usual yakiniku, the short rib slices are definitely done Western style – deep pink at heart, lightly browned on its surface, the veins of marbling still vaguely visible. But there’s nothing vague about the flavour. The beef is taut, juicy without being floppy, with truffle as a lingering cadence. The egg is mainly there to be looked at, not that I’m objecting to the sight of fresh yellow yolk streaming and pooling on rice … Given what we did try, I’m confident that the rest of what they do will also have that reassuring, well-accompanied quality. But don’t take my word for it; go try Tanuki Raw yourself. Read full review. +

The oysters were indeed really fresh. My mum, who is an expert in oysters, felt that the Fine De Claire had a sweeter and stronger taster than to the Australian’s oysters, however lacking in meatiness and size … The Chirashidon consisted of 6 types of sashimi (two each) together with Ikura, Ebiko and Tamago. I thought it was a rather generous variety and amount of sashimi and that the slices were pretty thick too. What I absolutely enjoyed about this bowl was their sashimi. It was really fresh, juicy and sweet. From that you know the quality of its fishes is really good. Maybe not so much on the scallops and the Ikura, but definitely the rest. Their tamago was really sweet and had a smooth texture to it too. I am not sure if they actually made it themselves as it was kind of too perfect. It was also over a bed of rice infused with furikake which was a plus point to it. Though, I felt the rice was really really dry and really doubt the rice they used was Japanese rice. Read full review. +-

Tanuki Kaizen Chirashi: A good variety of fresh sashimi on top of Tanuki’s signature mixed rice, the sashimi slices were thick and fresh. There were uni, tuna, negi toro, salmon, aburi salmon belly, scallop, sea bream, sword fish, white tuna, yellow tail, ikura, tamago, and ebiko according to the menu, and it was sheer pleasure just looking at all of them … Foie Gras Truffle Yakiniku Donburi: This was our favourite! The US Black Angus short ribs were tender and juicy, and the pan-fried foie gras was oh-so-sinfully creamy and rich. The Tanuki’s signature mix rice was delicious and flavourful. Read full review. +

Before our rice bowls arrived, we ordered a few small bites to share… Didn’t like the Trickster cheesesteak, featuring the yakiniku beef, onion and mushroom with melted cheddar cheese in a kong bak pau. The cheddar was too heavy on the palette, hence I didn’t quite taste the yakiniku beef. However, the Chicken of the Sea has a great contrast in textures – from crispy salmon skin, to tender aburi salmon in yuzu sauce, covered with chicken floss … the Truffle Yakiniku Don is a prime example of how luxury is never a costly affair at Tanuki Raw. The Black Angus beef short rib is slow-cooked in a water bath to ensure the meat is incredibly tender and juicy. Truffle soy sauce and a delicate onsen tamago with a rich, runny yolk complete this decadent dish. Break the runny yolk onto the seared beef and mix with truffle oil, every mouth will send you to beef heaven. Definitely my favourite dish for lunch! Read full review. +

The oysters were remarkable – fresh, huge, clean and meaty. It’s super worth the price! Like the oysters, the Salmon Sashimi can only be bought with purchase of any alcohol. It was great but nothing extraordinary; it didn’t leave an impression. Nevertheless it was fresh and adequately thick and fatty … This (Truffle Yakiniku Donburi) was the highlight of our dining experience because it’s the bomb. I couldn’t believe I finished the entire donburi when I was supposed to be on a low-carb diet. So if you’re on a diet, I suggest you forget about this dish altogether because once you start, it’s gonna be so difficult to stop… Meltingly tender and extremely satisfying, the thick black angus short rib slices were an absolute treat. The eggs were cooked perfectly (just look how runny those whites are) and the rice (mixed with toasted sesame seeds) was phenomenal. Read full review. +

Long story short, we heard numerous mentions about their truffle yakiniku don and decided to give it a go. Presentation aside, this was actually pretty good. Though I had expected those short rib to be pan seared instead of just being aburi-ed. I would not mind coming back to eat that again. Read full review. +